Apparatus for winding hollow articles



March 7, 1967 F. w. ANGRAVE 3,303,001

I APPARATUS FOR WINDING HOLLOW ARTICLES Filed July 23, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 7, 1967 F. w. ANGRAVE 3,

APPARATUS FOR WINDING HOLLOW ARTICLES Filed July 23, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A ttorney F. W- ANGRAVE APPARATUS FOR WINDING HOLLOW ARTICLES March 7, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 23, 1963 Inventor Attorney:

United States Patent 3,308,001 APPARATUS FOR WINDING HOLLOW ARTICLES Frederick William Angrave, Bristol, England, assignor to Bristol Aeroplane Plastics Limited, Bristol, England, a British company l iled July 23, 1963, Ser. No. 296,954 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 1, 1962, 29,595/62 4 Claims. (Cl. 156-425) This machine has been developed to produce curved lengths of pipe compatible with the straight lengths produced on our pipe Winding machine which is the subject of our British Patent No. 856,570 and related patents. The machine is designed primarily to form pipes, with bends of any angle within its capabilities; for example a 90 bend, the curved portion forming a segment of the circumference of a circle; and the pipes may have straight ends to facilitate joining with other pipes in a pipe line. Other bends and curves may equally well be produced, such as U bends or expansion bends, and it is to enable a range of different shapes and sizes of pipes to be produced on one machine that the design of the machine has evolved in its present form.

According to the invention, a pipe winding machine comprises a supporting structure, a rotating member supported by the supporting structure, a spool upon which material from which the pipe is to be formed may be wound, the spool being pivotally mounted on the rotating member, a curved mandrel upon which the pipe is to be wound and which can be removed from a wound pipe, a curved rigid guide member whose axis is of the same contour as the centre line of the mandrel, this rigid guide member being attached to the mandrel, and means for relatively moving the rigid guide member and thus the mandrel, with respect to the spool in such a way that the point on the centre line of the mandrel in the plane which contains the spool and which is perpendicular to the centre line of the mandrel remains coinciding at all times with the axis of rotation of the rotating member. The machine may include a number of spools.

Preferably the rotating member is annular, and the spools are pivotally mounted on the ends of arms attached to the rotating member. Preferably, the spools are pivotally mounted in such a manner that they may be adjusted to lie at a required feed angle in relation to the mandrel.

The rigid member is preferably moved by means of driven friction drums bearing against it. The speed of rotation of these drums determines the speed of traverse of the mandrel between the spools. The rotating member is also driven by mechanical means, the speed of rotation being adjustable.

In an alternative arrangement, the mandrel may be maintained stationary, and the rotating member, together with the spool, may be moved relative to the mandrel in such a way that the point of the centre line of the mandrel in the plane which contains the spool and which is perpendicular to the centre line of the mandrel remains coinciding at all times with the axis of rotation of the rotating member.

A machine for winding a curved portion of a pipe will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIGURE 1 shows an end elevation of the machine;

FIGURE 2 shows a side View, and

FIGURE 3 is a section plan view about line III-III on FIGURE 1.

The fixed part of the machine consists of a fabricated arch-shaped structure to which an annular channel section member 12 is attached by supports 11. The open 3,308,001 Patented Mar. 7, 1967 side of the channel section faces outwards and between its flanges are mounted rollers 13 whose diameters are slightly greater than the depth of flange, the outermost edges of the rollers thus protruding from the channel member 12. The rollers 13 are mounted on spindles allowing them to rotate freely, and are situated at intervals around the circumference of the annular channel section member 12, thus forming a track on which an annular rotating channel section member 14 is constrained to rotate. This rotating channel section member 14 has the open side of its channel section facing inwards. It is of sufficient width to fit over the rollers 13 which therefore run on the inside face of this channel section member 14.

Directly mounted upon this outer rotating member 14 are four equispaced telescopic arms 15 (in the drawings only two are shown fitted for clarity). These form the attachment arms for spools or cassettes 16 of the material of which the pipe is to be wound. This material may be in the form of tape. Alternatively the use of threads of material is possible. The cassettes 16 are freely rotatable on their spindles 17, which are in turn pivotable with respect to the telescopic arms 15 on pivot points 18. Pivotal actuation is by lever arms 19 and push-pull rods 20 driven by electro-mechanical means, the housings for which are indicated by reference numerals 21. The angle at which the cassettes are set is dictated by such variables as the direction with which the tube is being fed in during the winding operation, and also the width of the tape to be wound. It is to provide for these variables that the feed angle of the cassettes is adjustable.

In this example, for simplicity of operation, the feed angle is pre-adjusted to alternate between two positions which depend on the direction of pipe traverse. The electro-mechanical means housed in box 21 may then be a solenoid which is operated to move the cassette 16 to one of the required positions. Stops are set to limit the travel of the cassette 16 and its associated lever arm 19 and the correct feed angle is thus obtained automatically. Different stop settings are necessary for a different width of tape.

In an alternative arrangement, the cassettes 16 are arranged to swing freely upon the pivot points 18 to allow adjustment of the feed angle.

The outer rotating member 14, which together with the telescopic arms 15 and cassettes 16 forms the winding unit, is rotated by a sprocket 22 which meshes with teeth 23 attached to the periphery of the member 14. The sprocket is driven by a motor 24, which in this case is hydraulically powered.

A former or mandrel 25 of the same contour and internaldiameter of the tube to be manufactured is constructed of plaster of Paris or similar easily mouldable material, which may also be easily removed after completion and curing of the manufactured article. In the preferred case where the curvature of a pipe corresponds to part of the circumference of a circle, the mandrel may be removedin one piece but if the pipe is of compound curvature, the plaster of the mandrel 25 may be partially dissolved away or removed in pieces.' Alternatively, the mandrel may be made up'from sections, of metal for example, which could be collapsed and withdrawn from the pipe bend after the winding has been completed. Mandrels of different sizes and shapes may be fitted depending on the pipe to be wound. The plaster mandrel 25 is built up on a steel framework to give the necessary inherent strength and stiffness and at each end has adaptors 26 which enable it to be rigidly attached to support structures 27 and 28. These support structures, in addition to being connected to each other by their attachment to the direction of traverse.

mandrel 25, are also directly attached to each other at their base by a guide member 29. This guide member 29 is quite rigid, and in larger machines for example it could be made with a T or I cross section. The member 29 has several functions. In addition to providing stiffness between the support structures 27 and 28, it is of exactly the same contour as the centre line of the pipe mandrel 25 in use, and thus provides the guide means by which the pipe being wound is moved in correct relationship with the winding unit. It is therefore made removable, enabling other shapes corresponding with the shapes of the mandrel 25 to be fitted. Traverse and guidance with respect to the Winding unit is achieved by passing the member 29 between two drums 30 and 31 with their axes in a fixed vertical position relative to the winding unit. One drum 30 is driven by a hydraulic motor 32 and engages with a friction pad 33 extending the full length of one side of the member 29, providing a friction drive to traverse the tube during winding. The drum 31 is capable of limited movement in guideways under the action of a screw or hydraulic jack 34. It may thus be adjusted to press against the member 29, so holding the friction pad 33 against the powered drum 3%.

The support structures 27 and 28 are each mounted upon a suitable number of free moving castors 35 which rest upon areas of laminated plastic or other smooth low friction surfaces providing a working table 36.

In use a mandrel 25 and a guide member 29, both corresponding to the desired pipe contour, are connected to the supports 27 and 28 at their respective attachment points. The mandrel 25 passes through the centre line of the annular rotating member 14 and the guide member 29 passes between the drum 3t and the drum 31.

The cassettes 16 are loaded with spools of resin impregnated tape. It will be appreciated that four cassettes may be thus loaded although in this instance only a maximum of two cassettes would be actually winding at any one time. Any suitable number of cassettes could be used on the machine. Pre-loading two cassettes provides either for a wind of one type of tape which is continuous apart from changing cassettes which takes but a matter of seconds, for example to build up the wall thickness of the tube, or provides for a wind of an alternative type of tape, for example for lining the internal diameter of the pipe.

The ends of the tapes from two diametrically opposite cassettes are attached to the mandrel 25 one above and one below so that when the winding unit is rotated (in this case anticlockwise in FIGURE 1) the tapes are wound onto the mandrel 25, the spools freely rotating as the tape is Wound off them. The speed of traverse (that is-the rotation of the drum 30 by the motor 32) and the speed of rotation (that isof the annular rotating member 14 by the motor 24) are both selected to give the desired helix angle and overlap of consecutive tape helices n the pipe. Also the feed angle of each cassette is pre-set by actuation of the solenoid for the correct The machine is then set in operation. The tapes are helically wound onto the mandrel 25 which mounted on its castored supports 27 and 28 is traversed and guided in relation to the winding unit by guide member 29 passing between drums 3t) and 31. In FIGURE 3 the position of support 27 at the end of one winding operation is indicated by the chain dot outline 37.

At the end of one winding pass the motor 32 and the feed angles of the cassettes are simultaneously reversed; the feed angle being changed by operation of the solenoid. The winding sequence is then continued with the motor 32 traversing the pipe in the opposite direction. It is at the end of such a winding pass that the type of tape may be changed. For example a complete winding operation may be as follows:

One cassette is loaded with Courtelle tape to provide the pipe lining.

Two cassettes are loaded with glass fibre tape to pr0- vide the buildup of wall thickness. The fourth cassette is loaded with Courtelle tape to provide an outer cover for the pipe.

In each case the tape is impregnated with an epoxy resin.

On completion of the winding sequence the complete pipe and its former are removed from the machine for the curing operation and subsequently to this the mandrel is removed from the centre of the pipe by a method as previously described depending on the shape of the pipe. The core or framework on which the mandrel was built, it of dimensions suitable for removal from the completed pipe, may be used again.

Finally, the ends of the pipe may be machined, and if desired straight end sections are bonded in position.

The outlines 38 and 39 indicate an example of larger diameter and different curvature pipes which may be manufactured on the machine.

I claim:

I. A pipe winding machine comprising a supporting structure, a rotating member supported by the supporting structure, a spool upon which material from which the pipe is to be formed may be wound, means mounting the spool pivotally on the rotating member, a curved mandrel upon which the pipe is to be wound and which can be removed from the wound pipe, a curved rigid guide member whose axis is of the same contour as the centre line of the mandrel, means attaching this rigid guide member to the mandrel, and means for relatively moving the rigid guide member and thus the mandrel with respect to the spool in such a way that the point on the centre line of the mandrel in the plane which contains the spool and which is perpendicular to the centre line of the mandrel remains coinciding at all times with the axis of rotation of the rotating member.

2. A machine according to claim 1 in which the rotating member is annular, and including arms which are attached to the rotating member and means mounting a plurality of spools pivotally on the ends of these arms.

3. A machine according to claim 1 in which the spool 01' spools are pivotally mounted in such a manner that they may be adjusted to lie at a required feed angle in relation to the mandrel.

4. A machine according to claim 1 including friction drum means bearing against the rigid guide member for traversing the rigid guide member during winding, and driving means for the drums.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,915,102 12/1959 Alexefi" et al. 152356 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

M. L. KATZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PIPE WINDING MACHINE COMPRISING A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, A ROTATING MEMBER SUPPORTED BY THE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, A SPOOL UPON WHICH MATERIAL FROM WHICH THE PIPE IS TO BE FORMED MAY BE WOND, MEANS MOUNTING THE SPOOL PIVOTALLY ON THE ROTATING MEMBER, A CURVED MANDREL UPON WHICH THE PIPE IS TO BE WOUND AND WHICH CAN BE REMOVED FROM THE WOUND PIPE, A CURVED RIGID GUIDE MEMBER WHOSE AXIS IS OF THE SAME CONTOUR AS THE CENTRE LINE OF THE MANDREL, MEANS ATTACHING THIS RIGID GUIDE MEMBER TO THE MANDREL, AND MEANS FOR RELATIVELY MOVING THE RIGID GUIDE MEMBER AND THUS THE MANDREL WITH RESPECT TO THE SPOOL IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE POINT ON THE CENTRE LINE OF THE MANDREL IN THE PLANE WHICH CONTAINS THE SPOOL AND WHICH IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE CENTRE LINE OF THE MANDEL REMAINS COINCIDING AT ALL TIMES WITH THE AXIS OF ROTATION OF THE ROTATING MEMBER. 